Workers at the Green King Brewery group are heading out on strike next month over pay.
Unite workers at its operations in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, Abingdon, in Oxfordshire, and its Bury St Edmunds headquarters in Suffolk are set walk out for five days from December 5. The union said 188 of its members are taking part in the action.
They voted for strike action after the business offered them a 3 per cent pay rise and a one-off payment of £650 help with the cost of living crisis – which the union said would be a real-terms pay cut because of the impact of inflation.
Greene King manages a pub, restaurant and hotel estate of more than 2,700 properties under brands including Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns, Hungry Horse, Wacky Warehouse and Loch Fyne. Its beer ranges include Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale, Belhaven, and Greene King IPA.
Latest accounts filed on Companies House for Greene King Limited, showed a turnover of £1.34 billion in 2021 and an operating profit before adjustments of £18.6 million – compared to losses of £186.9 million in 2020.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Greene King’s owners are incredibly wealthy; the failure to offer workers a decent pay rise is all about greed and not about need.
“Unite, which is now entirely focused on defending the jobs, pay and conditions of its members, will not idly stand by while a wealthy company tries to further boost its profits by subjecting its workers to substantial real-terms pay cuts.”
A Greene King spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that the union has encouraged its members to reject our pay offer, as well as a number of other benefits, and pursue this course of action.
“Our pay rise offer is fair and consistent across the business, especially given the challenging wider economic environment.
“We have full contingency plans in place to minimise disruption and we will be working closely with our customers to communicate and implement these in the coming days.”
